ONE-EYED JACKS | MARLON BRANDO’S ONE & ONLY STINT AS FILM DIRECTOR | The Selvedge Yard by JP ONE-EYED JACKS | MARLON BRANDO’S ONE & ONLY STINT AS FILM DIRECTOR “You may be a one eyed jack around here– but I’ve seen the other side of your face.” 1958– Marlon Brando in his 1961 film directorial debut– One Eyed Jacks. Image by Sam and Larry Shaw. What makes One-Eyed Jacks a phenomenon big enough to live in — along with the presence of actors like Ben Johnson as that “scum-suckin’ pig” Bob Emory, Slim Pickens as Dad’s terminally despicable deputy Lon, Katy Jurado as his stalwart wife, and Pina Pellicier as his virginal stepdaughter Luisa (until Rio deflowers her) — is the way one of the most charismatic turns of Brando’s career plays off the darkest and most ambitious characterization of Malden’s.

Ultimately, in spite of Brando’s excesses and misadventures (he looked through the wrong end of a view finder when framing his first shot) as an actor-director engaged in an inspirational creative enterprise, he enjoyed himself and the film reflects it. In Songs My Mother Taught Me, he writes, “We shot most of it at Big Sur and on the Monterey peninsula, where I slept with many pretty women and had a lot of laughs,” adding that “Maybe I liked the picture so much because it left me with a lot of pleasant memories about the people in it … especially Karl Malden.” –Stuart Mitchner . In the years since it was first released in 1961, One-Eyed Jacks has been called everything from Marlon Brando’s Citizen Kane, to “…a jangle of artistic ambivalence” and unbelievably it was his only stint as director. Being a huge Brando fan, I may be a bit biased, but I love the film. Marlon’s silent, smoldering intensity underscores the epic Western tale about one man’s quest for revenge and romance that run parallel– and at odds with each other.

There’s something there we all can relate to– deep friendships that have tragically gone bad over money or success… love born out of misunderstood, or less than noble origins, that ultimately overcomes all odds… the longing to leave the sorted past behind and start over again… you get the picture. It’s all in there– and beautifully set against the rugged, pounding, surf of Monterey and Big Sur. Marlon Brando seen here directing on the set. — Image by © Underwood & Underwood/CORBIS. Brando’s directorial extravagance transformed a film scheduled for three months’ shooting at a cost of under two million into a six-million-dollar prodigy, thanks to a “footage fetish” worthy of Erich Von Stroheim, whose original print of Greed was ten hours long.

Pressured by the studio front office, Brando managed to cut eight hours of film down to four and a half, still obviously not enough for Paramount, which seized the print, trimmed it to two hours and 21 minutes, and insisted on a “happy ending.” Brando’s disappointed ambitions for his film are evident in the strangely worded admission he made to Newsweek in the “pot-boiler” interview: “Any pretension I’ve had sometimes of being artistic is now just a long, chilly hope.” Quoted around the same time, Malden said, “If we’d made it the way Marlon wanted it made, like a Greek tragedy, it could have been a breakthrough western. It could have been a classic.” In time, Brando and Malden had to know that even in its butchered state, the film was destined to become very nearly everything “it could have been. –Stuart Mitchner . Cinematographer Charles Lang and director Marlon Brando on location in Monterey, California, for the first day of shooting One-Eyed Jacks. . By all accounts, a film like One-Eyed Jacks should have taken little more than three months to film.

Yet, a chain of complications, among them being Marlon Brando’s difficult and eccentric ways, drug the production out over the course of 3 years. Brando wanted to make a western of epic proportions based on a tale of betrayal and revenge, when he came across Charles Neider’s 1956 novel The Authentic Death of Hendry Jones— which the New York Times praised as “an excellent dramatization of the myths that circulate around the deeds of bygone gunmen.” And so,One-Eyed Jacks was born, and the process of crafting the ultimate screen adaptation of the novel began. Paramount Producer Frank P. Rosenberg first hired Rod Serling (of The Twilight Zone fame) to write, what was more or less the tale of Billy the Kid set in Monterey, CA, titled Authentic Death— and ultimately rejected the work. Next, Sam Peckinpah was brought on to handle the screenwriting duties, which went on from ’57- ’59.

Brando fired Peckinpah, and soon to follow were Calder Willingham and, as Brando puts it in his autobiography, “finally Guy Trosper”: “He and I constantly improvised and rewrote between shots and setups, often hour by hour, sometimes minute by minute.” Over the years, the two credited screenwriters (Willingham and Prosper) and the uncredited Sam Peckinpah, have all stepped forward to claim ultimate responsible for the One-Eyed Jacks screenplay. Karl Malden himself has addressed the debate about who truly wrote the final story now immortalized on film: “There is one answer to your question — Marlon Brando, a genius in our time.” . Karl Malden broke his nose twice playing high school football in Gary, Indiana, and the result made a natural supporting actor of him. Marlon Brando broke his nose during an informal boxing match in the boiler room of the Ethel Barrymore Theatre while he was acting in A Streetcar Named Desire. The play’s producer Irene Selznick begged him to have a cosmetic surgeon repair the damage.

Tennessee Williams lamented the destruction of “those classic looks.” Brando refused to have the damage repaired, and years later Selznick admitted “that broken nose made his fortune. He was too beautiful before.” The lifelong friendship between the actor who played the bestial Stanley Kowalski and the one who played his kinder, gentler pal, Mitch, began during the 1947-1949 run of Tennessee Williams’s play. Karl Malden died July 1 ,2009 at the age of 97, five years to the day after Marlon Brando died on July 1, 2004, at the age of 80. They made three films together: A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), On the Waterfront (1954), and One-Eyed Jacks (1961). –Stuart Mitchner * While all this was going on, finding the right fit for director was proving to be equally troublesome.

Marlon Brando’s own Pennebaker Productions, which had paid-out $40,000 for the rights to Authentic Death, hired Stanley Kubrick to direct One-Eyed Jacks for Paramount Pictures. Kubrick never got to add One-Eyed Jacks to his list of films– he was soon on his way out the door before the cameras even started rolling. * Marlon Brando chatting with French film director Jacques Tati on the set on One-Eyed Jacks. * There are two very different accounts on Kubrick’s departure. The first account asserts that Kubrick became frustrated with the long-stalled development the script due to Marlon Brando’s eccentric and agonizing work methods. They also disagreed over who was best suited to play opposite Brando’s lead character, Rio. Kubrick was pushing to cast Spencer Tracy for the role of Dad Longworth, but Brando was adamant that it go to his good friend Karl Malden.

According to one account, a frustrated Kubrick confronted Brando: “Marlon, I don’t know what this picture is about.” Allegedly Brando’s curt response was– “It’s about the $400,000 I’ve paid Karl Malden.” (It’s been said that Karl Malden often referred to his Los Angeles home as “The House That ‘One-Eyed Jacks’ Built” due to the small fortune in overtime pay he made off the film.) Kubrick made it known that he could not work with Marlon’s conditions, and walked away from the troubled project altogether. The other account holds that Brando got wind that Kubrick had told one of the film’s producers, “they’d have to keep Brando away from the script if they were ever to make the shooting date.” Brando immediately fired him. The official press release stated that Stanley Kubrick had resigned in order to begin work on the film Lolita, the then infamous Nabokov novel that he and producer partner James Harris had recently acquired.

Whatever the actual truth may be for Kubrick’s dismissal, Brando decided to hire himself to direct the film– a job which proved to be bigger than the great Hollywood icon had most likely expected. * 1958, Monterey CA– Playing a cowboy role for the first time in his movie career, Marlon Brando looks like an hombre to wreckon with as he handles a six-shooter on location at Monterey, Calif. Brando is both the star and the Director of “One-Eyed Jacks,” A Pennebaker Paramount Production. — Image by © Bettmann/CORBIS * One-Eyed Jacks finally began shooting in late 1958, and went months and months over schedule, and cost Paramount millions over the film’s original budget. Beyond the cost of cast, crew and location– One-Eyed Jacks was being shot in VistaVision, an expensive filming process that cost 50 cents a foot back then. Brando was camera happy and had reportedly shot hundreds of thousands of feet of footage, as he sought artistic inspiration for both himself and his actors– particularly the young Mexican actress, Pina Pellicer, with whom he had a special connection.

Editing the film took over a year after filming finally ended in 1959. Paramount, unable to bear further delays, took the film from Brando and recut One-Eyed Jacks as they saw fit. Brando reportedly did not put up a fuss at the time, apparently having become tired himself with the editing process after spending untold time trying to perfect his masterpiece. He did however complain, after the fact, that the studio’s final cut took away the moral ambiguity he sought for his character, Rio, and that they had effectively screwed-up the ending. In Brando’s cut, Dad Longworth’s last shot meant for Rio hits his own step-daughter Louisa instead, killing her and thus leaving Rio with nothing in the end. The studio used the alternative ending where Rio and Louisa have an emotional parting at the beach, and Rio promises to return to her. The tragic irony to the debate over the film’s ending is that the beautiful and talented actress who played Louisa, Pina Pellicer, whom Brando had an affair with on the set of of One-Eyed Jacks, later committed suicide. Knowing that, it always messes me up when I watch the scenes of them together on-screen. .

1959– Marlon Brando and Pina Pellicer in scenes from the movie: One-Eyed Jacks. –Image by © Bettmann/CORBIS . One-eyed Jacks– Marlon Brando as Rio, and Slim Pickens as Dad’s terminally despicable deputy, Lon. . Marlon Brando on the set of One-Eyed Jacks. — Left image by © Underwood & Underwood/CORBIS * Marlon Brando in a Paramount publicity still for the film: One-Eyed Jacks. * 1959– Marlon Brando, director, on the set of One-Eyed Jacks. — Image by © Bettmann/CORBIS * * 1959, Hollywood, CA– Realism gets too real for actor Marlon Brando in the Pennebaker-Paramount western “One-Eyed Jacks” as he fights with actor Slim Pickens. Brando, (facing camera), is attempting a jailbreak, is spotted by Pickens, who hits him with the butt of his rifle. In the scuffle, Brando was gashed over the right eye, which required several stitches.

Brando who directed the picture, told the cameraman to print the shot, as he did not want the realism lost. — Image by © Bettmann/CORBIS * * Brando, always the realist as actor or director, (Left) showing Malden how he wanted him to play a love scene in One-Eyed Jacks. The Paramount Film, a Western starring Brando, is the actor’s first directorial assignment. — Image by © Bettmann/CORBIS * Legendary character actor Ben Johnson as that scum-suckin’ pig, Bob Emory, in One-Eyed Jacks. * * “The voice Marlon Brando develops for his character Rio, aka the Kid, has in it the distilled essence of every cowboy hero every kid who grew up in westerns has absorbed into the depths of his or her Saturday matinee soul. The fascination of Rio’s voice is in its subtle, plaintive, sometimes barely audible inflections, the way it lilts, slurs, and simmers as Brando makes it express his quiet, lonely, pathological quest for vengeance.

He’s been stoking his hatred for five years in the prison in Sonora where he landed thanks to the perfidy of his old pal and partner in crime, Longworth, whose brisk, smug, pedestrian speech patterns that can seem almost Nixonian help create a harmony of opposites every time Malden’s Dad and Brando’s Rio converse.” –Stuart Mitchner * 1961– Marlon Brando, from the 1961 film: One-Eyed Jacks. — Image by © CinemaPhoto/CORBIS * Marlon Brando in a Paramount studio publicity still for One-Eyed Jacks. * 1961– Marlon Brando, from the 1961 film: One-Eyed Jacks. * * Sources: The FreshSite: Film: Reviews: One-Eyed Jacks (1961) Review The one and only film Marlon Brando ever directed is just as moody, dwelling and distressed as Marlon himself. It is an overlong film filled with juxtapositions of right and wrong portrayed more deeply and probingly than was accustomed or even allowed in westerns at the time.

But then again, One-Eyed Jacks never turned out a western in the John Fordish sense of the word, which is no surprise considering Brando's affiliation. There are no vivid descriptions of ways of life, and no warmth of atmosphere. The film is completely void of nostalgia, which is rather rare for a western. Even Sergio Leone's cruel rendition of western life had that soft spot. In all probability this simply didn't interest Brando. What One-Eyed Jacks did was to give him a chance to explore the human psyche, which he did excessively, inconsiderately and with a fair share of that well-known arrogance of his. After Brando produced a first cut of the film at five hours, the studio trimmed the film down to its meager two and a half hours to fit conventions. And while this saves us from what would have been an indigestible chunk of Brandoisms, it also deprives the film of some depth - making certain segments somewhat loosely motivated, and ultimately, the romance even mushier than Brando and Pellicer are able to make it in the scenes they share. The film is naturally at its most interesting concerning the Brando/Malden relation, which is one of timeless and explosive proportions.

Brando does well in leaving the friction between the two simmering throughout the movie, it gives the film suspense and tension. And Malden is the director's most powerful instrument, giving a riveting and complex performance. For all Marlon Brando's eccentricities, or perhaps because of them, it is a pity One-Eyed Jacks remained his only directorial entry. Copyright ï¿½ 2.9.2007 Fredrik Gunerius Fevang One Eyed Jacks Movie - Marlon Brando - 1961 Western | Western Classic Movies Five years in a squalid Mexican prison! Is Marlon Brando back for revenge? In the western “One-Eyed Jacks,” this is the question Dad Longworth (Karl Malden) asks himself when Rio (Marlon Brando) unexpectedly shows up at his home. Longworth and Rio have a notorious past together. When the duo robbed a bank in Mexico, Longworth was supposed to get another horse and come back and rescue Rio. But with all that gold and a chance to save himself, Longworth doesn’t return. He leaves Rio to be caught by the Mexican police and jailed.

Five years later Rio escapes from prison with fellow inmate, Chico Modesto (Larry Duran). At a bar, Rio learns that Longworth has shed his past and become sheriff of the beautiful California coastal city of Monterey, California. The bandits at the bar are planning to rob the bank in Monterey. Rio joins them to help with the heist, but his bigger plan is to get revenge. When Rio quietly arrives at Longworth’s home and finds him happily married to Maria (Katy Jurado) and with a beautiful stepdaughter name Louisa (Pina Pellicer), he finds his opportunity – Seducing Longworth’s daughter while appearing to be a forgiving old friend. “One-Eyed Jacks” refers to the playing card and symbolizes the two sides of people’s personalities. In this western, Marlon Brando shows how two-faced and calculating a person can be when they are out to even the score. • Marlon Brando produced, starred in and directed “One-Eyed Jacks.” However, this was Brando’s first and last film that he ever directed. The reason is because Brando spent three times the budgeted amount and took three times the amount of filming time allotted for the western.

The movie was supposed to be shot in 60 days for less than $2 million. Brando took six months and spent $6 million. Reports are that Brando was a perfectionist as the director so he kept shooting and reshooting scenes of the movie until he felt they were exactly the way that he wanted them. This hyper perfectionism did not go over well with the studio and resulted in Brando getting a bad reputation as a director. He was never offered to direct a film again. • By the time Marlon Brando finished making “One-Eyed Jacks,” there was over five hours of film footage. Also, the finished western didn’t seem to have a clear villain or hero in it. The studio, wanting to make its money back from the film, took over the editing and cut the movie down to 141 minutes. They also re-edited it so that there was one, clear hero in the movie and they changed the ending to something the studio believed would be more well-received by audiences. Brando was not happy with these changes but at this point did not have much influence left. • “One-Eyed Jacks” is the only film that Marlon Brando ever directed.

He replaced the initial director of the film, Stanley Kubrick. The original plan was for Marlon Brando to produce and star in the western, while Kubrick directed it. There is speculation that there were personality differences between Stanley Kubrick and Marlon Brando which is why Kubrick stopped working on “One Eyed Jacks.” • “One-Eyed Jacks” was filmed on location in Monterey, California and Death Valley, California. The Monterey location is why there are so many beautiful seaside shots in the movie which is highly unusual for a western.( Westerns are normally shown in desert locations.) The cinematography of this western is one of the reasons why it is so memorable and unique. • “One-Eyed Jacks” is based on the novel “The Authentic Death of Hendry Jones” by Charles Neider that was originally published in 1956. • “One-Eyed Jacks” was nominated for a 1962 Academy Award for Best Cinematography (Charles Lang) • Marlon Brando was nominated for an Outstanding Directorial Achievement Award from the Directors Guild of America.

One-Eyed Jacks | film by Brando [1961] | Britannica.com film by Brando [1961] motion picture One-Eyed Jacks, American western film , released in 1961, that was the only movie directed by Marlon Brando . Although often overshadowed by its well-publicized production problems—notably Brando’s excessive expenditure of time and money—the film earned positive reviews and became a cult favourite. Marlon Brando and Pina Pellicer in One-Eyed Jacks (1961), directed by … © 1961 Paramount Pictures Corporation In the aftermath of a bank robbery, Dad Longworth (played by Karl Malden ) double-crosses his friend and partner, Rio (Brando), leaving him to take the fall (and the jail sentence) for the crime. Five years later Rio escapes from prison and, consumed by revenge, tracks down Dad, who is now living a respectable life as the sheriff of Monterey, California. Dad is married to a local woman, Maria ( Katy Jurado ), and he prides himself on being a good stepfather to her daughter, Louisa ( Pina Pellicer).

Although initially wary of Rio’s motives, Dad accepts his former partner’s lies when he says that he bears Dad no malice . Rio subsequently seduces Louisa, outraging Dad. After Rio kills a man in self-defense, Dad beats him and forces him to leave. While recovering, Rio realizes his love for Louisa is stronger than his need for revenge, and he returns to take her with him. However, after an attempted bank robbery—with which Rio is not involved—Dad intends to try Rio in a kangaroo court and then see him hang. Rio escapes and kills Dad in a gunfight. Rio and Louisa, who is pregnant, then make plans to marry. Although Brando would never again find himself behind the camera, he acquitted himself well, winning favourable—if not enthusiastic—reviews as both director and star. However, his lack of discipline resulted in costly budget overruns. His final cut ran more than five hours, and Paramount executives eventually shortened the film into a still-leisurely 141 minutes. Although occasionally uneven, One-Eyed Jacks is a compelling morality tale, with strong chemistry between Brando and Malden.

Brando’s reputation suffered further in 1962 when the box-office failure of MGM ’s Mutiny on the Bounty was blamed on his recalcitrant behaviour during production. Production notes and credit ‎One-Eyed Jacks (1961) directed by Marlon Brando • Reviews, film + cast • Letterboxd 2 Weird western atravesado por la saeta del melodrama sobre lo oneroso que puede resultar ajustar cuentas con el pasado.

La huella aciaga y melancólica de Sam Peckinpah, autor del guión original, se advierte en un relato que alza el dedo acusador contra el traidor —poco menos que fratricida— aferrado a la respetabilidad y no contra el fuera de la ley, como sucederá muchos años después en su 'Pat Garrett...' Karl Malden está, como siempre, sublime; el Brando actor, en su registro intransferible, y en cuanto al Brando director, supera la prueba holgadamente: integra elementos inéditos en el género, en especial la constante presencia de un océano que subraya el impasse en el que se hallan los personajes; maneja con soltura… Review by Captain Quint ★★★★½ One-Eyed Jacks isn’t a universally hailed western like say a Stagecoach or High Noon. But it has its devoted fans, and I number myself among them. The film has been in a sorry state for decades, so I was elated when I found out that Criterion was releasing a restored version of Brando’s lone directorial effort.

And when I hit play I was blown away. They did a beautiful job. Though I’ve seen the picture at least a half dozen times, I’ve never ACTUALLY seen it. Not like this. Brando’s intent was to create a Freudian anti-western, loaded with gray areas. But with studio interference and final cut taken out of Marlon’s hands, the movie lost some of that gray,… Review by Olevar ★★★★★ Festival de Cine de Morelia #25 ¡Qué gran western se aventó Marlon Brando, y qué pena que haya sido la única película que dirigió! Aquí hay un gran ojo y mano muy firme en la dirección, y no puedo dejar de pensar qué habríamos obtenido si Brando hubiera explorado más géneros como director. Si ésta solamente fue la prueba de lo que pudo haber hecho de dirigir más, creo que estaríamos hablando de un talento como director equiparable, sin problema, al que tenía como actor. Porque si a algo se le puede sacar buen juego en el western es a sus personajes, y Marlon hace un trabajazo con eso.

Aquí hay puro villanazo, incluido él, y es muy padre ver… 1 One Eyed Jacks is quite a unique western. It plays out like an epic Shakespearean drama, and refreshingly for the genre, is largely set on the coastline. And it's also notable for being directed by Marlon Brando (who stepped in when Kubrick walked off the project). Apparently Marlon indulgently directed hours and hours of material, and was kind of over it all come editing, so left that to someone else. This in many ways should be one of those disasters. But like the subsequent Bounty film, it isn't even close. These films have considerable flair despite themselves. For the first hour or so, I was just about ready to give this four stars. Malden and Brando as always play beautifully… Review by StephenFurda ★★★★ One weird, sporadically brilliant movie. Not quite the blast of unbridled creative energy I expected; rather, a sort of simmering, masochistic exploration of a world without morality.

The kind of film where the first half seems so decidedly average and the second half ends up blowing you out of the water - this Freudian, lawless world comes to a perfectly unheroic, anti-genre conclusion. Essentially, a movie about adolescent angst set loose in the west. Brando and Karl Malden are both pretty great. I can't imagine what the original five hour cut would have been like, as it's clearly too long at 140 minutes, but Brando shows a genuine talent for getting inside his characters' heads purely through his painterly framing.… Review by Jack Gattanella ★★★★ "I'm feeling tragic, like I'm Marlon Brando..." - David Bowie Long only available in the very occasional revival-house screening, or in public domain versions (which I decidedly avoided over the years despite being a fan of the good Brando films), now that Criterion has put out a remastered version (thanks Spielberg/Scorsese for being movie heroes again!) we can try and see the movie for what it is as opposed to it being some curio or other: the only film Brando directed in his long but peak-and-valley career. What I think this is is...

quite good, and maybe a full third of it is truly magnificent. I have my criticisms of it, but the short of it I can say is… ‎One-Eyed Jacks (1961) directed by Marlon Brando • Reviews, film + cast • Letterboxd 2 Weird western atravesado por la saeta del melodrama sobre lo oneroso que puede resultar ajustar cuentas con el pasado.

La huella aciaga y melancólica de Sam Peckinpah, autor del guión original, se advierte en un relato que alza el dedo acusador contra el traidor —poco menos que fratricida— aferrado a la respetabilidad y no contra el fuera de la ley, como sucederá muchos años después en su 'Pat Garrett...' Karl Malden está, como siempre, sublime; el Brando actor, en su registro intransferible, y en cuanto al Brando director, supera la prueba holgadamente: integra elementos inéditos en el género, en especial la constante presencia de un océano que subraya el impasse en el que se hallan los personajes; maneja con soltura… Review by Captain Quint ★★★★½ One-Eyed Jacks isn’t a universally hailed western like say a Stagecoach or High Noon. But it has its devoted fans, and I number myself among them. The film has been in a sorry state for decades, so I was elated when I found out that Criterion was releasing a restored version of Brando’s lone directorial effort.

And when I hit play I was blown away. They did a beautiful job. Though I’ve seen the picture at least a half dozen times, I’ve never ACTUALLY seen it. Not like this. Brando’s intent was to create a Freudian anti-western, loaded with gray areas. But with studio interference and final cut taken out of Marlon’s hands, the movie lost some of that gray,… Review by Olevar ★★★★★ Festival de Cine de Morelia #25 ¡Qué gran western se aventó Marlon Brando, y qué pena que haya sido la única película que dirigió! Aquí hay un gran ojo y mano muy firme en la dirección, y no puedo dejar de pensar qué habríamos obtenido si Brando hubiera explorado más géneros como director. Si ésta solamente fue la prueba de lo que pudo haber hecho de dirigir más, creo que estaríamos hablando de un talento como director equiparable, sin problema, al que tenía como actor. Porque si a algo se le puede sacar buen juego en el western es a sus personajes, y Marlon hace un trabajazo con eso.

Aquí hay puro villanazo, incluido él, y es muy padre ver… 1 One Eyed Jacks is quite a unique western. It plays out like an epic Shakespearean drama, and refreshingly for the genre, is largely set on the coastline. And it's also notable for being directed by Marlon Brando (who stepped in when Kubrick walked off the project). Apparently Marlon indulgently directed hours and hours of material, and was kind of over it all come editing, so left that to someone else. This in many ways should be one of those disasters. But like the subsequent Bounty film, it isn't even close. These films have considerable flair despite themselves. For the first hour or so, I was just about ready to give this four stars. Malden and Brando as always play beautifully… Review by StephenFurda ★★★★ One weird, sporadically brilliant movie. Not quite the blast of unbridled creative energy I expected; rather, a sort of simmering, masochistic exploration of a world without morality.

The kind of film where the first half seems so decidedly average and the second half ends up blowing you out of the water - this Freudian, lawless world comes to a perfectly unheroic, anti-genre conclusion. Essentially, a movie about adolescent angst set loose in the west. Brando and Karl Malden are both pretty great. I can't imagine what the original five hour cut would have been like, as it's clearly too long at 140 minutes, but Brando shows a genuine talent for getting inside his characters' heads purely through his painterly framing.… Review by Jack Gattanella ★★★★ "I'm feeling tragic, like I'm Marlon Brando..." - David Bowie Long only available in the very occasional revival-house screening, or in public domain versions (which I decidedly avoided over the years despite being a fan of the good Brando films), now that Criterion has put out a remastered version (thanks Spielberg/Scorsese for being movie heroes again!) we can try and see the movie for what it is as opposed to it being some curio or other: the only film Brando directed in his long but peak-and-valley career. What I think this is is...

quite good, and maybe a full third of it is truly magnificent. I have my criticisms of it, but the short of it I can say is… One Eyed Jacks - Free Streaming Movies Online - MovieZoot Free Streaming Movies Online Western, Action, Drama | 141 mins | Released: 1961 Director: Marlon Brando Starring: Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, Slim Pickens, Katy Jurado, Ben Johnson, Larry Duran, Pina Pellicer Our Rating: 8 Color Rio (Marlon Brando) (also called “The Kid”), a shameless philanderer, his mentor Dad Longworth (Karl Malden), and a third man named Doc rob a bank of two saddlebags of gold in Sonora, Mexico. The robbery is successful, but Mexican Rurales track them and catch them celebrating in a cantina, killing Doc. Dad and Rio manage to escape, followed by the Rurales. After getting cornered on a high ridge, with Rio’s horse dead, Rio figures the Rurales will be “swarming all over us inside an hour”.

Deciding that one partner might take the remaining pony and ride to a little jacalito down the canyon about five miles and return with fresh mounts, they shake for it, with Rio fixing the deal so his pal Dad can be the one to go. Dad gets to a corral, strapping the swag bag onto a fresh pony, but he gets second thoughts. He casts one eye towards a point on the ridge sure to be taken by the Rurales, and with the other he gazes off in the opposite direction out past a low-lying treeline towards the border and safety. One way leads to danger and a poor chance at surviving with half the booty, the other towards a virtual certainty with all of it. After a decidedly short moment of reflection, he takes the latter and leaves his friend to be taken by Rurales. Rio is arrested, and is transported to prison by way of the jacalito where he learns firsthand of Dad’s betrayal from the owner. Rio spends five hard years in a Sonora prison, giving him ample time to mull over Dad’s betrayal before escaping with new partner Chico Modesto (Larry Duran) and going hunting for him.

When he locates him, Longworth has used his wealth to become the sheriff of Monterey, California. Instead of ambushing Dad, Rio gives him a chance to explain why he left him back in Mexico, pretending he had never been captured to put him off-guard. Longworth’s awkward self-serving story is easily seen through. All along Rio planned not only to kill Dad, but to pull off a bank robbery in Monterey with his new partners Chico and snakelike “scum-suckin’ pig” Bob Emory (Ben Johnson) (who used his knowledge of Dad’s whereabouts to force their partnership), but his plans are sidetracked when he falls in love with Longworth’s beautiful virginal stepdaughter Louisa (Pina Pellicer), and takes advantage of a fiesta to spend the night with her on the beach. When Dad finds out, he tries to make Louisa confess to being deflowered, but after intervention by his wife Maria (Katy Jurado) he backs down. He then traps Rio in town and administers a vicious beating with a whip in front of the entire town, smashing Rio’s gun hand with the butt of a shotgun in an attempt to end his gun-slinging days.

While recovering from his wounds near the ocean, Rio struggles with his conflicting desires to love the girl and to kill her stepfather for revenge. He decides to forgo vengeance, fetch Louisa and leave, but Emory, having decided that Rio will never be fast enough to challenge him again kills Chico and pulls off the bank job without his knowledge. Worse, the heist goes wrong and a young girl is killed. Rio is falsely accused without evidence and locked up by Longworth after whipping the town up into a lynch mob state. Dad desperately wants to kill Rio in an attempt to absolve his own guilt over the earlier betrayal. Knowing that the trial’s outcome is certain, and Rio is sure to be hanged in two days, Dad has one last private talk with him, again attempting to excuse himself, to which Rio replies, “You may be a one-eyed jack around here, but I’ve seen the other side of your face.” Rio confesses to being imprisoned for the last five years in a Sonora prison, but Dad disbelieves him, saying that it is a lie.

After Louisa visits Rio in jail to confess that she is going to have his baby, he is beaten by sadistic deputy Lon Dedrick (Slim Pickens) out of jealousy and envy for Louisa’s affection. Maria faces Dad about telling her the truth, which she learned from Louisa, stating that she knew something was wrong since the moment Rio arrived in the town and that he is going to hang him out of pure guilt. Longsworth leaves in a fit of anger. Louisa visits the jail again in an attempt to smuggle a Derringer pocket pistol, but she is discovered by Lon, who leaves the gun on the table. While Lon takes Louisa out, Rio seizes the opportunity to get hold of the pistol, which he accomplishes, but without ammunition. Rio bluffs his way out of jail with the unloaded pistol, helping himself to the revolver of Lon after a tense scene. As he is making his escape, he is spotted by Dad in the center of town. Under fire and left with no choice, Rio kills Longworth in a final showdown. In the closing scene, Rio and Louisa ride out to the dunes and say a sentimental farewell.

Rio will now be a hunted man and is already wanted in Mexico, and tells Louisa that he’s going to Oregon, but to look for him in the spring, when he will return for her. This film was one of the first Westerns to portray a bad man as somebody the audience can identify with, leading to the Spaghetti westerns of Sergio Leone. Loading… Movie Notes: One-Eyed Jacks, a 1961 Western, is the only film directed by actor Marlon Brando . The picture was originally planned to be directed by Stanley Kubrick from a screenplay by Sam Peckinpah, but studio disputes led to their replacement by Brando and Guy Trosper. Brando portrays the lead character Rio, and Karl Malden plays his partner “Dad” Longworth. The supporting cast features Katy Jurado , Ben Johnson , and Slim Pickens . See Ben Johnson and Warren Oates in “Dillinger” on MovieZoot here The film was Paramount Pictures’ last feature released in VistaVision. Cinematographer Charles Lang received an Academy Award nomination in the Best Cinematography, Color category that year. Upon release, it made little money, leading to a string of unsuccessful films for Brando.

Marlon Brando shot a total of five hours of additional footage, some of which was later destroyed. Later, other directors worked on the rest of the film after Brando walked away from the production. He did not direct another film in his later years, but he did continue to act. The film was released on March 30, 1961 in New York City. One-Eyed Jacks received mixed reviews from critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 50% critics have given the film a positive review, with a rating average of 6.2/10. Bosley Crowther of The New York Times, favorably influenced by Brando’s efforts, noted: “… directed and played with the kind of vicious style that Mr. Brando has put into so many of his skulking, scabrous roles. Realism is redolent in them, as it is in many details of the film.

But, at the same time, it is curiously surrounded by elements of creamed-cliché romance and a kind of pictorial extravagance that you usually see in South Sea island films.” Variety, on the other hand, wrote: “It is an oddity of this film that both its strength and its weakness lie in the area of characterization. Brando’s concept calls, above all, for depth of character, for human figures endowed with overlapping good and bad sides to their nature.” Dave Kehr of The Chicago Reader wrote: “There is a strong Freudian pull to the situation (the partner’s name is “Dad”) that is more ritualized than dramatized: the most memorable scenes have a fierce masochistic intensity, as if Brando were taking the opportunity to punish himself for some unknown crime.” One-Eyed Jacks was the name of a brothel in the TV series Twin Peaks created by David Lynch and Mark Frost.

That it shares the same name as this film is acknowledged in dialogue between Donna Hayward and Audrey Horne, where Audrey asks Donna if she has heard of “One-Eyed Jacks” and Donna responds “Isn’t that that Western with Marlon Brando?” Marlon Brando’s first cut of the film was allegedly five hours long. He was reportedly unhappy with the final product, despite its box-office success. “Now, it’s a good picture for them [Paramount],” he said upon its release, “but it’s not the picture I made . . . now the characters in the film are black-and-white, not gray-and-human as I planned them.” Marlon Brando replaced Stanley Kubrick as director. Marlon Brando would sit near the ocean for hours waiting for the waves to become more dramatic for his perfect shots. One Eyed Jacks was Paramount’s last release in VistaVision. Marlon Brando’s inexperience behind the camera was obvious on set. He shot six times the amount of footage normally used for a film at the time. He was indecisive and ran extremely overlong in getting the film finished. Paramount eventually took the film away from him and recut it.

The character of Rio originally was based on Billy the Kid, as recounted in Charles Neider’s novel “The Authentic Death of Hendry Jones.” Sam Peckinpah, who wrote an early version of the script and who later went on to direct Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973), said in a 1973 “Playboy” magazine interview that Marlon Brando would not play a villain, and Billy the Kid most definitely was a villain. Peckinpah’s 1973 film shares some narrative elements with this film and it also featured “Jacks” co-stars Slim Pickens and Katy Jurado. Stanley Kubrick, who originally was slated to direct the film, wanted Spencer Tracy to play Sheriff Dad Longworth. Marlon Brando, whose production company already had Karl Malden on salary, refused to replace him with Tracy. Marlon Brando’s original cut of the movie was over five hours long. Despite playing Pina Pellicer’s mother Katy Jurado was only 10 years older than her. After buying the rights to the novel, producer Frank P. Rosenberg worked on the first draft of the script together with Rod Serling.

Sam Peckinpah was then hired to rewrite it. A complex deal was then made where money earlier spent attempting to develop Louis L’Amour’s novel “To Tame a Land” into a film was allocated for accounting purposes to this film, and Stanley Kubrick was hired as director. Kubrick fired Peckinpah and brought in Calder Willingham for more rewriting, but later Rosenberg fired him and hired Guy Trosper instead. Brando’s silver-trimmed saddle from “One-Eyed Jacks” was re-used by bandit chief Eli Wallach in “The Magnificent Seven.” Filming began at the end of 1958, but the movie was not completed until the autumn of 1960. Marlon Brando cast and Hand picked Mary Dagher Turbay for her role as the innkeeper. She had worked with him in a previous movie called ‘Viva Zapata!”. Mr. Brando would call her “Mama” behind the scenes and throughout the filming of this picture.

One-Eyed Jacks (1961) - Marlon Brando | Review | AllMovie One-Eyed Jacks (1961) Directed by Marlon Brando Genres - Western | Sub-Genres - Revisionist Western | Release Date - Mar 30, 1961 (USA - Unknown) | Run Time - 141 min. | Countries - USA | AllMovie Rating twitter Review by Michael Costello Often described by director Martin Scorsese as his favorite Western, Marlon Brando's only foray into directing resulted in one of the most interesting films in the genre. Brando plays an outlaw abandoned on a Mexican mountainside by his partner Karl Malden, while escaping from a posse. After doing a five-year hitch in a Mexican prison, Brando goes looking for revenge. A film whose troubled production history included contributions by Sam Peckinpah and Stanley Kubrick, in many ways it's a precursor to the operatic, slow-motion oaters of Sergio Leone. Basically a standard Western, it's raised a few notches by a great performance from Brando, who is given all he can handle by a memorably sadistic Malden.

The pace of the scenes is undeniably slow, and one's enjoyment of the film probably depends on the extent to which viewers find Brando's myriad expressions of slow-burning rage compelling. Either Brando has an excellent eye or he was lucky in his choice of cinematographer Charles Lang, because the photography of Monterey, the Sierras, and the Mexican coastline is spectacular. Katy Jurado, Slim Pickens, Ben Johnson, and the always disturbed Timothy Carey round out the colorful cast. One-Eyed Jacks, two faces of Marlon Brando - Festival de Cannes 2016 Cannes Classics 16.05.16 . 3:17 PM Update :16.05.16 . 5:07 PM One-Eyed Jacks, two faces of Marlon Brando Share Print Film still of One-Eyed Jacks (La Vengeance aux Deux Visages) © RR Film historian Patrick Brion, the creator and host of Cinéma de Minuit on France 3, raises several points on the great western One-Eyed Jacks (1961), the only film directed by Marlon Brando, screened in Cannes Classics.

Brando as actor-turned-director plays brilliantly on the long shots, in the same way as certain Japanese films of the same period. An actor's film Its release coincided with a period when actors had greater freedom of action, as the major studios did not hold them under contract. And some of them, under the influence of their agents, chose to invest financially and to direct films. An example is Clint Eastwood who later on managed to film Bird instead of making just another western in a long series of westerns. They were also free to change directors, as Kirk Douglas did when he chose Stanley Kubrick to direct his production of Spartacus. In this sense, One-Eyed Jacks is a typical actor's film (directed by an actor), and a masochistic one at that, because for an actor, tragedy offers more scope than comedy. Marlon Brando as director Sam Peckinpah penned an initial script inspired by the myth of Billy the Kid, but Brando refused to play this protagonist. So Brando contacted Stanley Kubrick. Kubrick turned down Peckinpah's script because he thought Billy the Kid was not a hero, but a killer.

And he had two conditions: he wanted Spencer Tracy to play the second role. But Brando had already promised the role to a friend and so he turned Kubrick down. The actor, who already had a production company, launched his project and finally decided to direct the film himself, in addition to playing the lead role. On set From that point, he took over the filming. He shot six times more film than planned and the film was eight hours long! Then it was cut to 4:30 hours, to 3 hours and finally to 1:41, which is the definitive version screened at Cannes Classics. The filming lasted six months instead of twelve weeks and it went way over the planned budget: from two to six million dollars!

Question: 'One-Eyed Jacks' (1961) is whose only film as a Director?
Answer: MARLON BRANDO